KATHMANDU, Aug 5: With three rounds of voting in parliament for electing a new prime minister turning into fiasco, Speaker Subas Nembang has said a legitimate way out can be found to avoid further run-off elections.
As repeated voting in the House has yielded no result, serious concern has been raised from various quarters including some political parties that such a situation may give the wrong impression to the public about the entire democratic practice and the political parties.
He said party leaders have already held some rounds of talks in a bid to find alternative ways. "A legitimate alternative to voting can be possible provided the candidates who are in the race and the political parties concerned are ready for that," Nembang said.
According to leaders involved in the talks, top brass from the major political parties have initiated more serious dialogues in recent days, sensing that parliament may fail to elect a new prime minister even in the fourth round voting as the third largest party, CPN-UML, has remained adamant in its decision to stay neutral while the Madhes-based parties are always unpredictable.
While UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal has been insisting on starting the election process afresh ever since his own candidacy was withdrawn during the first round, the Nepali Congress (NC), which has fielded Ram Chandra Poudel as its candidate for the coveted post, has decided to keep options open if the fourth round also remains inconclusive.
However, the UCPN (Maoist) has insisted on continuing the ongoing process as the party´s chairman, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, has succeeded in attracting more votes in fresh voting.
Asked what could be the process for withdrawing a candidacy, a senior official from the parliament secretariat said it would not be a big deal once the party leaders reach an understanding at the political level.
"Withdrawal of a proposal can be possible if a lawmaker stands up from his seat and demands withdrawal just before the Speaker tables the proposal for a vote," he said adding that such procedures are set through political understanding.
The official also made it clear that there is no possibility of either candidate being elected unanimously even if one of the two candidates withdraws his candidacy. "Even if only a single candidate remains in the race, he must secure a majority in the voting to get elected because every proposal is dealt independently."
According to him, someone can be elected unanimously only if just one lawmaker has filed his/her candidacy at the secretariat by the time the deadline for filing expires. That was how Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal was elected last year. No lawmaker challenged his candidacy.
However, the officer said that the procedure would be resumed anew as per the same process, under Article 38 (2), as for electing a new prime minister under the majority system.
"There is no possibility of taking the entire process back to President Dr Ram Baran Yadav to elect the prime minister [unanimously] under Article 38 (1) of the Interim Constitution," he said. Article 38 (1) says the government shall be constituted on the basis of political understanding.
Earlier, the parties had agreed to go for voting after failing to elect a new prime minister through consensus.
Source: http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=21873
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